Prepare yourselves for a deluge of new AR filters on Instagram

As of today, anyone can create AR filters and effects for Instagram. Facebook has opened Spark AR -- the tool responsible for pretty much every AR experience you've encountered across Facebook's products -- to the Instagramming public.

Snapchat launches Creator Shows with Serena Williams and Kevin Hart

In the last year, the time spent watching Shows on Snapchat has tripled. The company wants to take advantage of that. Today, it announced Creator Shows, a new format that will deliver regularly published content from some of Snapchat's most popular s...

Instagram’s latest Stories sticker is a direct link to group chats

Instagram is introducing a new feature that will let users start private group messages around specific Stories. The company announced the change on Twitter today. Users will soon be able to add a "join chat" sticker to their Stories. If followers ta...

Instagram’s revamped Explore section includes Stories

Stories are an increasingly important part of Instagram, and the social network wants to be sure you see more of them. It just unveiled a revamped Explore tab that will feature personalized Stories recommendations. You won't have to track down a sp...

Snapchat can survive, but it can’t do it alone

Snap Inc. co-founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel, kicked off the first-ever Partner Summit last week in Los Angeles with a sort of syrupy soliloquy about how the Snapchat camera "lets natural light from our world penetrate the darkness of the internet." He...

Snapchat Stories are coming to Tinder

Tinder ditched its Moments feature in 2015, but that doesn't mean the popular dating app is done with giving users access to ephemeral (aka disappearing) content. Later this year, those of you on Tinder can start posting Snapchat Stories directly to...

Instagram finally tests a fast-forward feature for videos

In a move so overdue you're probably checking the date stamp on this article, Instagram could finally be about to launch a seek bar on videos posted on users' feeds. The feature, discovered by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, would let you skip back...